Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “adminbar menu”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “adminbar menu”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 1 plugin is pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether it throws errors on current PHP, whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Simplify Admin Menus shows at wp.org #10 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 80+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 2617 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 QuadMenu – Mega Menu 10K+ · 4.5★ (270) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Groovy Menu Plugin (Free) 4K+ · 3.6★ (25) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138) wp.org #9 6 too low 4 Disable Admin Notices – Hide Dashboard Notifications 100K+ · 4.7★ (367) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 Admin Bar Editor – Toolbar Customization with User Role based access & Custom menus 3K+ · 4.4★ (24) wp.org #5 ↓1 6 Hide Admin Bar from Non-Admins 10K+ · 4.3★ (30) wp.org #6 7 Disable Everything 30K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #4 ↑1 3 too high 8 Clearfy Cache – WordPress optimization plugin, Minify HTML, CSS & JS, Defer 40K+ · 4.7★ (339) wp.org #19 11 too low 9 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #21 12 too low 10 Role Based Hide Adminbar 60+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #3 7 too high 11 WP EXtra – One Click Optimize 6K+ · 4.9★ (41) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 Better Admin Bar 3K+ · 4.8★ (19) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 Bottom Admin Toolbar 1K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #7 6 too high 14 Hide WP Toolbar 900+ · 4.9★ (13) wp.org #13 1 too high 15 Linguise – AI Automatic Multilingual Translation 1K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #18 3 too low 16 Organize Media Folder 2K+ · 4.1★ (16) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 which template file 4K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #14 3 too high 18 W WP Adminbar Hiddener Tools Plugin 10+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too high 19 Admin Bar Wrap Fix 200+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #23 4 too low 20 Simplify Admin Menus 80+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 10 too high 21 Patternly – Gutenberg Starter Templates, Patterns, WordPress Landing Pages & Sites 60+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 ↑1 6 too high 22 Széchenyi 2020 Logo 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Quick Toolbar Links 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 Adminbar Default Menu Manager 20+ · 3.0★ (1) wp.org #17 7 too high

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 1M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted Bayesian score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.